#Forfeit Soundtrack – Chapter Five

Xander pushed her hair off her face, swearing, and not under his breath. ‘This is stopping, right now. Stand up.’

She tried, but the world shifted sideways and she grabbed Xander’s shoulders, the window frame, anything, to stay upright. The world shifted more as he picked her up, carrying her upstairs. Did he think he could take her to bed? He had some nerve.

‘Christ, Daisy, he’s not worth killing yourself over. No one is.’

Her mouth didn’t work. She was in the bath, but there wasn’t any water. She opened her mouth to point out his schoolboy error, but ice-cold water came raining down, hitting her skin like hailstones. Daisy screamed, trying to get out, but she fell back, or maybe Xander pushed her, and she stayed, crumpled in the bath with the freezing water dowsing her soul.

‘Stop it.’ The words were barely audible above the shower, but finally she could think, she could focus, she could talk. ‘Xander, stop it.’

He turned the water off. ‘Better?’

‘You bastard.’ She stared at her soaking jeans.

‘Obviously better. Time for a real shower?’

He helped her stand, but the room swirled and her stomach churned. Daisy staggered out of the bath, barely making it to the toilet before she threw up. She threw up until there wasn’t anything left in the world to throw up and as fresh tears flowed, Xander wrapped her in a towel, wiping her face as he cradled her. Oh God, her life was a disaster, but she didn’t have the energy to make it better. She let Xander rock her like a baby until her sobs calmed to shuddering breaths.

‘Why are you letting him do this to you?’ he asked quietly.

‘Because I love him.’ She was pathetic. ‘I’ve loved him since the day I met him and I don’t know how to stop.’ Horrifically pathetic.

But the Knight-in-Shining-Cricket Pads held her a little tighter and kissed her head. ‘We’ve all been there, Daze.’